Machine for winding thread on spools



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SELF-ACTING WINDING MACHINE FOR SPOOLING THREADS. No. 26.415. Patented Dec. 1-3, 1859.

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No. 26,415. I Patented Dec. 13, 1859.

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UNITED STAWTENTOFFIQEY MACHINE ron WINDING THREAD 01v sPooLs.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 26,415, dated DecemberlS, 18599 3 it To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HEZEKIAH CoNAivT, at present residing at Willimantic, in the county of Windham and State of Connectiout, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Winding Thread of Cotton, Silk, Linen, or other Fi-I brous Material Upon Bobbins or Spools, and that the following specification, taken in connection with the drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

In the drawings on Sheet No. 1, Figure; 1 is an elevation of the machine taken from the front end thereof or that on whichthe bobbin is mounted. Fig. 2 is a top view or plan of the machine. Fig. 3 is a side eleva tion of a pattern cam or traverse changer. Fig. 4 is an end elevation ofthe same. Fig. 5 is a development of this cam or traverse changer upon a plane. 6 is a detail drawing in section of the cam andlips uponwhich it acts to change the traverse or. direction of winding of the thread upon the spool or bobbin.

stopping the action of the machine when the spool is full.

This machine is specially contrived for winding thread upon ordinary spools, the

ends of which are conical or irregularly conical, so that the layers or courses of thread wound thereon are of necessity each longer than theother as the outside of the spool approached; but it will also be useful in winding spools Whose ends are perpendicular to the axis of the spool and on which all the layers of the thread are consequently of the same length.

And the object of my inventionis to wind thread upon spools with regularity and pre cision, layer upon layer, and each filling the whole length of the spool, without any attention on the part of the operator further than to remove and replace spools to cut the thread and fasten it whenthe spool is full,

and to attach the thread to a fresh spool, and set the machine in motion. a

And to this end the nature of the first part of my invention consists in combining a pattern cam or traverse changer withnuts, and right and left hand. screws or their equivalents for the purpose,the operation of Fig. 7 is an elevation in. detail of the rigger socketand latch, and in Sheet No.2, Fig. 1, 2, and 3 are respec-j tively a plan, an end elevation, and a side elevation of a modification of apparatus for.

1 vention consists in n" uide shall have itsniotion reversed and its ength or distance of motionreguIatedauto j matically, substantially, in the ncl p for the purpose herein specified. And the nature of hesecond par invention consists in constructing a cam or traverse changer withfiaf steps or projections *1 or theirj equi which come into ac nfsuccessively one. of the series bein ofsuch propor length compared change of motion 1o take place when an pletely fills the bobbf i And the nature of dpartj invention consists n combining with tern cam and right and left hand scre traversing nuts, a stop motion substan such as is hereafter specifiedfso tha whole apparatus shalljj be brought when the bobbin is completelyfilled. I And the nature of theffourth part invention consists in aking the lips of levers that actuate screw nuts or equivalents for the urpose they serv ustable, so that .difierentlengths of spools may be wound properly by "the sa erse changer. J I p And the nature of fifth artofnly in. 1 ntingthe presser and thread-guide directl Jon the traverse r0 whereby the machine is cheapen: moves more steadilyand accurately. And the nature ofthe sixth part ofm in f ventionconsists in a tensio a lever, in combination with p and spooling machie, the operation being .to deliver the thread under proper tension to the guide and esser and to stab th whole apparatus: automatically whe thread breaks or isentire ly woundoff of ie large bobbin from hichthreadis p d to the apparatus. a 1

My machine ,jisOu to machines now i sewing thread, cot such machinesbein the combination being such that a thread.

structing machin The shaft A isprovided with a pulley such as a, to receive a belt which gives motion to the whole apparatus; with a conical pulley such as d and with a socket into which a spindle is inserted upon which the spool to be wound is forced and by which it is supported; and below this shaft lies a rod, to which is attached a link p, to which is connected a hand lever B and on the end of the rod are two projections 0 0, the whole being for the purpose, of removing and re placing spools, and being like the shaft and its pulleys, the same or nearly the same as those in ordinary use in spooling machines.

The shaft B with its conical pulley b and right and left hand screws is like those in ordinary use and is driven by a band like 5, the use of the conical pulleys being to make the same screws serviceable for thread'of different numbers and consequently diam eters, by altering the relative velocity of the screw shaft and that which supports and revolves the spool. The traverse rod is so mounted as to have a sliding motion in the direction of its length only, and directly upon the end of this rod is a guide and presser D identical in construction with those now in actual use, there being an adjustable spiral spring to bear the guide proper, as at D downupon the thread being wound and a handle to relieve the pressure when a spool is to be replaced or removed. This presser and guide as a whole is, in machines now in use, connected to the traverse rod by a jointed connection but not attached directly to it as in my machine, and this direct attachment is important as the presser is thereby caused to follow all the motions of the traverse rod with perfect precision without any backlashing, or pause while the traverse rod is changing from a motion in one direction to the reverse thereof.

The traverse rod in order to wind thread properly layer upon layer must cease moving in one direction and instantly commence moving the reverse way as soon as one layer of thread fills the spool completely from end to end, and on ordinary spools the distance through which it moves must vary as 'each course of thread is wound. In order to effect this operation I have mounted upon the traverse rod on proper pivots or hinges, two levers or swinglng bars E, E, the one carrying the section of a right hand, and the other of a left hand nut corresponding with the screws on shaft B. These bars are mounted by means of adjustable points or pivots with set screws as shown in the drawings so that they may fall and rise freely and so that when moved horizontally they may force the traverse rod to follow their motions instantaneously without backlash or endplay. If one of these levers were raised (while the machine was in motion) so that its nut came in gear with one of the screws the traverse rod would move in one direction, when that nut was dropped so as to release itself from the screw, the traverse rod would cease to move, and when the other nut was lifted the traverse rod would move in the opposite direction. In order to accomplish this alternate dropping and lifting of the levers automatically I have mounted upon the shaft B a pattern cam or traverse changer such as G which is bored out so as to turn freely upon the shaft. When this cam is slipped on the shaft one end rests against a stationary hub, and set and pinch nuts such as is are brought to bear against a disk of cork or leather inserted in a recess turned out in the other end; the object of the arrangement being that the cam shall be moved by friction as fast as the shaft moves, when unlocked or permitted to turn, but may be locked fast and not moved at all while the shaft revolves at full speed inside of it. From the periphery of this cam stand out a number of steps or prejections as plainly shown in the drawing on the end of each swinging bar or drop lever E, is formed a lipF, or these lips may be separate pieces and secured in place by set screws as shown in the drawings; these lips are sufiiciently thin (see Fig. 6,) to slide freely between the steps or pro ections on the traverse changer, and are so mounted on the swinging bars that they will engage with the projections. Each bar may be prevented from dropping below a certain line by a stop such as is, and its lowest position should be such that the nuts which it controls shall be out of contact with its corresponding screw thread.

Now the operation of these parts is as follows: Suppose that the lip F is in its highest position resting on one of the projections, and themachine in motion, then the nut pertaining to F will be in gear with the screw 1",and the lip and the traverse bar will be moving toward the conical pulleys or rear of the machine; at the same time the lip F will be resting upon the step or projection next lowermost with its nut out of gear and will follow the motions of the traverse rod; as soon as the end of the lip F slips off of the step or projection onwhich it rested, the nut that it governs will drop out of contact with the screw thread, the motion of the traverse bar will cease and the traverse changer being unlocked will commence to revolve by its friction connection with the shaft, as it revolves, it will almost instantaneously lift up the lip F so that the nut governed by it comes into gear, when the traverse rod will commenceto move in the opposite direction. The traverse changer 5 is locked fast again by the lip. as soon as the nut engages with the screw and while .F was rising, F dropped onto its stop or on to the next projection below, and as soon as F commenced moving toward the front of the machineF followed it, entering the same space between two projections but with its nut out of contact with the screw as that nut lies at a greater distance below its controlling lip than the nut governed by. F lies below F; that is to say, when both lips are in the same space between two projections, the nut on F may be in gear with one of the screws, while the nut pertaining to F is just out of gear with the other. e

The traverse rod continues to move toward. the front of the machine until lip F drops off the end of the projection or step on e the traverse changer which then unlocked and lifts F so as to ut its nut in gear while the nut of F itself falls out of gear with the screw. The traverse rod therefore again commences to move toward the rear of the machine and so continues to do until the lip F again falls off of theprojection which held it up. The office of the cam therefore is to. ermit one nut to drop out or berelease from gear and to throw the other nut into gear when each successive layer. of thread is completed and itsshape andmotion may be variously modified so long as it produces such effects automatically; it may moreover be mounted upon a shaft other than that carrying the screws, if thought desirable, and may be caused at times to rest and at others to move rapidly in many ways known to mechanics, so long as it acts to govern the motion of nuts or their equivalents substantially in the manner specified. Spools on whichsewing thread or cotton is wound are generally turned with conical heads or ends,'each layer of thread is. therefore longer than the one below itland each traverse of the traverse rod must be of greater length than the one preceding it; each lip therefore must hold the nut it governs, in gear ,for a longer time as each successive layer of thread-is wound and each step or projection on the traverse changer is therefore made longer than the one which it follows as the cylinder revolves, as clearly shown in the drawings especially in Fig. 5, and the relative. length of the steps must be governed by the shape of the heads of the spools. The thread maybe wound so as to fill spools of any shape by a proper change of length of the projections, the longest of which must be as much longer than the shortest as the outermostlayer of thread is longer than the inmost or first course or a a :short piecelor step ofthe. last pro e 6 5 layer.

The lipsas beforefstated arein the best a form of the machine adjustable so that they may be brought toward and separated from 1 j 1 each other; when separated they will cause 11 their respective nuts toremain lesstime in contact or engagement with the-screws when brought together, the opposite effect takes place; spools ofjdifferent lengths may i therefore be wound accurately with the same traversechangesw j a It is important that thewinding should be stopped at the instant that the spoolis filled and the last course com leted, first.

for the reason that thelatter wlllthen present a smooth surface, fromend to endffof the spool; second, because the machine wi then have all parts in theright position commence winding another spool and this purpose I havejcontriv d a st tion, two modificationsyof whichl scribe. The first is shown onthe first of drawings. A rigger or shipperX is so as to slide freely theframe o chine and is drawn backward by or spring, and i when u in its; rearmos it holds the driving band on a loos or in other well known Way stops e. chine when drawn forward by hand moves the band off of a. loose pulleyso a put the machine in motionand is hel that position bya latch L, dropping pinto socket on an arm depending: from. the. rigger. If the latch be lifted e spring or weight will draw the ri g ckwardi and stop the machine. The is piv t d at L andihas attachedto it an] upright (clearly showninu-Fig; 1) to} nected onearm of a bent le; arm of this lever rises vertically alongside of that end of the traverse changer near t the nuts 7c, and from thi'sendlgof thetra erse changer. projects faafsmall Figs. 3. and 4:. When this pin n the re tion ofthe machinestrike the bent lever, the latcl socket, the rigger is draw j spring and the machine stops The pin is so located on th f latch will be. liftedat the p of the lips drops off of and the machin'eiwould. for a short time by itsow m m the belt was thrown ofl", thus commend new layer or courseof thread. To prevent this I have divided the last and longestp jection (see Figs. 3 and 5.) j at o and oved a short portion of it farther amen tern cylinder or traverse changer. means the belt willbe thrown off? in li drops onto the short pieceoqand t l; will ride on that short piece thus .causin the outer layer ofthread totbewound until th machineloses its m ntum and stops. I have by trial regt ted the length g I V 7;

lever u acting on the link of the latch lever L before referred to. When the bell crank is moved in direction of the arrow Fig. 3 the latch will be lifted and the machine thrown out of gear. The upper end of the bell crank lever is a spring tending to bear in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, against the hub, and the pin a as it comes around moves the upper end of the bell crank away from the shaft and into the path of one of the lips F so that when that lip strikes the upper end of the crank it will lift the latch and when it has thrown the crank arm to its limit of motion the arm will pass the end of the pin a and fly back against the hub, thus removing itself from the path of the lip and permitting the latter to drop on the next step of the traverse changer as it ought to do.

The position of the arm m should be so adjusted with reference to the lip that the belt shall be thrown olfso long before the last course of thread is wound that themachine will run by momentum just long enough to complete that course.

In both the modifications of the stop motion the parts return to their proper position in readiness to latch the rigger fast, when pulled into place to start the machine, by the counterbalancing of the levers, or by the use of springs.

In case the thread that is being Wound breaks or that all the thread is wound off of the supplying bobbin, it is important that the machine should stop at once so that the spool shall not make a turn without thread being wound upon it; if the contrary should happen one layer, and consequently all above it will be irregular unless the ma chine be run backward to the place at which thread was last wound upon the spool. It is also important that the thread should be delivered to the presser guide under a constant tension so as to insure regularity of work. Having these objects in view I have combined with the winding apparatus a stop lever and tension apparatus shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2. A standard or arm at is fitted somewhere between the supplying bobbin and the presser guide and carries pins such as 1, 3, and 5 and on one of the end plates of the machine or in any other convenient place is pivoted a lever P, provided at its free end with pins such as 2 and 4. This lever or a projection from it lies directly above the upright link of the latch le-' ver L, in such manner that when the free end of P is not heldup, it will fall upon the link and by its weight lift the latch out of its socket and stop the machine.

The thread represented in the drawings by a red-line passes from the supply bobbin over a pin on the arm, under a pin on the lever, and so on in succession to the notch in the presser and thread guide, and when the machine is started the drag on the thread will hold up the free end of the lever, but when the thread breaks anywhere between the supplying bobbin and the spool on which thread is being wound the lever will drop and the ma chine will stop. The weight of the lever will produce a certain amount of tension upon the thread, and the degree of tension can be varied by changing the position of a shifting weight such as that shown at \Vin the drawings.

The form, position, and relative arrangement of parts in this machine may be varied without departing from the principles of my invention, so long as they have the same mode of operation by which the same results are obtained, and any stop-motion may be used in place of those described so long as so combined with a pattern cam or traverse changer as to cause the motion to cease, when that cam has properly directed the filling of a spool by winding thereon successive layers of thread. The precise kind of tension employed is moreover immaterial so long as so combined with a stopping lever that the breaking of a thread shall cause the lever to stop the machine.

Having thus described my improvements in machinery for winding thread I would state that I do not claim, a shaft fitted with right and left hand screw threads, and combined with nuts which may be so shifted by the hand of an attendant that they are alternately in gear with the screws, and while move in a direction dependent upon the screw that is acting upon a nut. But

I do claim as of my own invention.

1. The combination substantially in the manner hereinbefore set forth of a traverse changer, with right and left hand screws, and with nuts which are alternately in gear with such screws, the combination operating as a whole substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein described.

2. I claim a traverse changer provided with successive steps or teeth substantially such as is before described and acting upon lips as hereinbefore set forth.

3. I claim a stop motion substantially such as is described herein for causing the machine to come to rest when a spool is filled in combination with automatic apparatus substantially such as set forth for regulating the length of motion and change of direction of motion of a guide through which thread is delivered on to a bobbin or spool.

in gear cause a thread guide and presser to 4. I claim adjustable lips substantially such as set forth in combination with a traverse changer whereby spools of difierent lengths may be wound by the use of the same traverse changer. y b l a r 5. I claim mounting the resser and thread guide directly upon, for attaching it firmly to the traverse rod, as hereinbefore described, whereby the machine is cheapened and performs its work more accurately. 6. And lastly, in combination with apparatus substantially such as described for governing automatically the motions of a thread guide Ida and stop motion wh of a machine when stantially by the modeiof operation setgforth hereunto sub scribedmyname inthet y 1 dcounty of Windhamon this llth day of April D 1859. i

1 01 P arrests the n ead e k is In testimony whereof I have 

